No More Rain
by Void.Of.Memory
Summary: Link is facing the last battle in Hyrule Castle. But, what happens when he gets into the hidden graveyard...? Surprise ending, sort of a crack fic. T for dark themes and a depressed Link.


**Greetings and salutations! I thought I try my hand at a rather ridiculous fanfic this time around. This game doesn't belong to me, as I'm sure you could have guessed. Tell me what you think in reviews, if you have the time!**

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><p>The semi-transparent yellow barricade vanished as the bokoblin disappeared in a cloud of vile black dust. Link re-sheathed the Master Sword, hooked his shield onto his back, and whipped the sweat from his stinging eyes. The glacial rain, mixed with the sweat and blood, ran in rivulets down the panes and angles of his face. His whole tunic was soaked, his fair hair plastered to his face. The Hero of Time tried to suppress a shiver against the bitter air, his green tunic sticking to his body. His chain mail was so cold, that it left burns where it touched bare skin. He kept walking though, Hyrule castle looming on his left, throwing weak shadows across the courtyard, not that there was must sun breaking through the heavy rain clouds. An evil presence radiated from the center of the castle- Link hadn't been aware of it when he had first entered the grounds, but after a few minutes, he noticed the throbbing in his temples and in his left wrist when he held the Mater Sword. The Sword glowed faintly, reacting to the proximity of all three pieces of the Triforce. Even Midna felt the ominous omnipotent pressure, her voice less lively in Link's head and her comments void of any sarcastic remarks.<p>

Link's equipment jangled as he moved forward, providing noise, almost musical tones, to the overbearing silence- the rain was so constant, it barley registered to the hero anymore, though the infrequent cried from the kargarok chilled Link down to the marrow of his bones.

He was tired, so very tired. There had been no chance to rest, to sleep, to eat, ever since he had pulled the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time. He ate when he rode Epona and slept when he fainted. Midna pleaded with him to rest, to take a break; Zelda could wait an hour or two. But The Hero of Time knew he couldn't stop- if he stopped to rest, he wouldn't get back up. The tireless pace forbad him to think, to feel. The things he had done should have crushed any man, by all means. Link knew, he felt it in his head and soul, that he should be dead- or at the very least, gone mad. The pain he had endured, the trails he had faced- they were all a part of him now- etched on his very soul. But what would happen when this was over; when Hyrule was saved, Zelda rescued and Midna restored to her rightful pace? Link had been born for a purpose but what was he to do when he had completed his purpose? Scars would open, Link knew- not only the ones make from blades and magic, either. Scares would open and he would bleed out- there would never be any peace for him, never again.

Lost in thoughts of the future, and unable to see clearly in the consuming darkness of the courtyard, Link failed to notice the root that stuck out form a near-by tree. The hero tripped over it and simply let himself fall. He didn't have to energy or the will to brace himself. The cold, damp earth embraced him, uncaring, and let him lay there as the edges of his vision slowly began closing in and turning black. He tried to motivate himself to get up, to push himself on, to complete his destiny. But he couldn't do it.

"Link…" Midna floated up from his shadow, her gentle voice ringing lightly in his head. "Come on Link. We're almost there."

Her eyes were locked, worriedly, on the hero's weary form. Midna remembered back to the first time they had met- Link had been a wolf, full of spirit and emotion. Now, a human again, he seemed detached from reality. The twilight being couldn't pin exactly when the shift had occurred, only having memories of petty incidents that seemed like nothing at the time. She never would have known the events' collective powers could have changed him so completely.

Link's figure was now a gaunt one, made only of muscles and sinew. The hero's unforgiving pace and little food had eaten away at the boyish curves of his body. Every look Midna she compared what he used to look like- curved jaw and rounded cheeks- to what the face he had now; squared jaw, a nose crooked from being broken, concave cheeks and pale scars everywhere. The Twili was reminded again and again how much the boy had grown- rough, blond fuzz was edging his chin and his azure eyes had lost their look of innocents to a haunted, pain-filled gaze. _He's a man now… _Midna mused to herself.

Link, slowly, pushed himself off the ground. He was dizzy from blood loss and the cold. Even in the yeti's frozen mansion, Link hadn't been so bone-wearily cold. As he stood a soft patch of dirt caught his eye. He gave Midna a wordless nod and darkness rushed to his form. For a single moment, the silent hero was in bliss. He felt nothing, saw nothing and the pain was gone. Then, the moment vanished, and it hit him all over again. Only now, the emotions were altered, reduced to mere shadows of their former self. It might have been liberating, if Link did not know, somewhere in the back of his bastardized mind, that when he was human once more, the shock of having human emotion again would nearly crush him. He had thought, once or twice, of staying as a wolf forever. Midna had even been consulted, and she had unwillingly stated that it was possible. But Link knew he would never make that choice. He needed the memories of early days in the village and Iila, and in this form, they were simply too hard to access. The memories of then were maybe the only thing keeping him going. And his lupine thoughts were far too… human for the permanent wolf shape to be an even trade off. Wolf Link had been more bestial before Zant had gone and shot that- that thing into him. Whatever it had been, it had caused the shift from animal mind to human one. The wolf form had been an escape before, but no longer.

Link, the wolf, opened his eyes. He was much closer to the ground, his nose assaulted by the earth, the rain, the stone, the monsters… if it was there, he could smell it. If it had been there, he could smell it. He had long learnt how to sort out the scents between the important and the less important, but in the beginning, the attack on his nose had beaten him into submission. The same had occurred when he had tried to listen with his wolf ears, though it had been all the more painful- his human ears had started to bleed when he had transformed back.

Link padded over gently to the soft dirt and sniffed. He could small death and decay on the other side- the earth was saturated with the putrid stench. Luckily, the rain helped push the reek from his nose, and made the compact soil easier to dig through. Once on the other side, he shook the dirt from his fur along with the moisture. A drop of rain had the audacity to land on the wolf's nose, and Link blinked, looking into the dreary sky like it was his first time noticing it. The weather reminded Link of a storm he spent outside with Ilia a few years back. The silent flares of lightening, the calming scent of the rain and the way he was completely wet- they were all in both memories. Only, when he had been with Ilia, he hadn't been a wolf, and they had been in Ordon. The rain, like it was doing now, had drenched them both as they tried to catch individual drops in their hands.

Rapped up in memories, Link yelped and jumped on his hind legs, snapping at the droplets of water. He barked, wagging his tail for first time in a long time, and almost managed to forget the heavy burden that had been weighing him down. Even Midna found Link's puppy like behavior amusing and she cracked a smile as she floated up beside him. But the moment in cloud nine was shattered when Link's barking woke something decidedly more evil. Undead skeletons rose from the ground and with a high-pitched cry, attacked.

"Link!" Midna's voiced roared in his head. "Look out!"

The wolf turned and saw the creatures. With a snarl for breaking the moment of joy, he ripped the enemies to pieces, leaping and pouncing about with an animal fury. It was over within a minute. Panting at the outburst of energy, and whimpering at a new wound, he limped away from the carnage.

"Link, hold on." Midna murmured slowly. She placed her hand on his furry shoulder. "Look over there."

The sacred beast turned to see a trio of ghosts, pointing at the southern most wall. The most have been only visible to Link's wolf senses. Their amour was broken and blood, their faces held empty sockets and bits of bone were visible between strips of flesh. The crest of Huryle shone still from their helmets, though everything else was rusted.

"They must dead castle soldiers." Midna's voice was still somber. "Look at them. They can't be much older than you Link."

The wolf sat back on his haunches and howled. The lone cry was composed of regret and longing- regret, for he could do nothing for the unquiet souls, and longing, for he knew he couldn't be like them. The howl morphed into a human cry of pain and anguish, as wolf became man. Link staggered a few steps forwards, hitting a worn gravestone and sank to his knees. As the emotions rushed back into body, the scream faded into violent sobs. He pounded his fists against the cold stone, adding bruised knuckles to his list of injuries. And there he rested, on his knees, his two fists on either side of his forehead, all three against the marker, still sobbing. The rain continued to its restless descent to the ground, uncaring.

Midna watched from her shadow, feeling useless, though she knew there was nothing she could do. From experience, she knew she couldn't say a word, and simply had to wait for him to stand. These emotional breakdowns were happening more and more often. _Maybe he's not a man yet._ Midna realized suddenly, _He's just a boy wit hall these responsibilities that are forcing him into manhood. Except, he's not ready to let go of the past. _The Twili's heart was breaking for the young man she could do nothing to help.

It wasn't long before the body-wrenching sobs stopped and Link stood, more resolved than before. The Triforce, golden and iridescent, glowed faintly from Link's hand as he moved to the idle of the cemetery. More skeletons emerged from the graves, but Link's skill with the Master Sword made short work of all of them.

"I think that's the last of them." Midna commented slowly. "Good work Link."

He accepted her praise with a nod as he tore some fabric with his teeth. A glancing blow off of his shield hap opened a fresh wound just below his shoulder. It hadn't hit the muscles, but it was still bleeding sluggishly. The damn stalfos had snuck upon the hero as he had been fighting the other three. Link winced as he rolled up his tunic sleeve. With a grunt he pulled the cloth tight around his arm and tied it off. There. The pain was sharp, but not unmanageable. He rotated his arm, focusing in on the ache. The rain helped wash away the blood from his cloths and hands- Link closed his eyes unwillingly as he thought of blood that would never wash off. In a flurry of movement, the hero flew off the small stone square, moving away from the ghosts that threatened to engulf him. The steps took him in between two large gravestones. A patch of text, on both of the stones, caught his eye and he peered closer. The text, carved into the pale marble, was faded and worn down.

"'The cursed swordsman…sleeps before… the sacred tree.'" Midna read. "Huh, I wonder what that means."

The hero shrugged and turned to the other one. Blinking the rain from his eyes, he passed his fingers over the letters.

"'In the land…where the rain stops… the statue of time… moves.'" Midna shook her head and shrugged. "That one makes even less sense than the last one."

Link opened his mouth to offer an explanation- then shut it as quickly as he could. He flipped around, pulling out the Master Sword and his shield. His held the blade out, ready to face the monster behind him, which was… nothing but the rain. The hero of Time could have sworn someone was there- he had felt many pairs of eyes' burning gaze on the back of his head. But the only living thing around him was a large, old tree. The pressure of a presence was pushing against his mind- not an evil presence mind you, though they weren't wholly good either. Unseen eyes… More ghosts?

The wolf lopped over to the tree and opened his senses. He leaped back when six spectral soldiers shifted into focus. The regarded the beast solemnly, their eyeless faces disfigured with tragedy. How they knew Link was there, and could see them, was beyond the simple mind of the beast. With a purposeful movement, they raised their arms in unison, pointing at a small, half sunken rock. The hero's animal mind was slow to connect the dots- but he suddenly made sense of the first gravestone.

The blue-eyes beast nodded his thanks at the phantoms and they saluted, disappearing one by one. Link stood on two legs and pulled out a bomb. He placed it down on the rock then lit the fuse, stepping back as soon as it caught. Rocks reigned down on him, hitting the shield instead of his body, jarring his arm. He lowered the shield as the dust settled and found a shallow hole containing a switch. Cautiously, remembering what switches had done in temples past, he stepped on the bronze square. A low lick issued from somewhere beneath the earth, then a great metal screeching. One of the rusted trellises lifted into the stonework of the castle, allowing access into a small chamber, containing three chests. Link, happy to be out of the rain, took off his hat and wrung it out, a puddle of blood, sweat and water formed at his feet. Deciding he needed to warm up, he took out his lantern and lit it, though it went out quickly, though not before he noticed the urn of oil. Pleased with the stroke of luck, he filled the lamp and re-lit it on the floor. The hero sighed, semi-content, and basked in the small warmth as he leaned against the wall next the heat source.

"Link," Midna's voice slipped into the young hero's thoughts. "Maybe this would be a good time for sleeping. It's dry, you have a fire and how knows when you'll get another chance like this."

Link hesitated- how he longed to be enveloped by darkness and sleep. The pitter-patter of the rain was the simplest of lullabies. But the dreams. The dreams that the Triforce brought him… He couldn't stand them; waking up screaming, coated in sweat then passing the rest of the day with a pounding headache and a nameless feeling of despair. Sometimes, the taste of dark magic lingered in his mouth- Link suspected that the Lord of Darkness had his hand in turning the dreams into nightmares. And so close to the Great King of Evil himself, it would be beyond foolhardy to even try. Link shook his head.

"Come on Link!" Midna begged in his head. "You have to get some rest I… I can put up a barrier to protect you from the dreams while you sleep, thought it would only be a short while."

But the hero refused more firmly this now. He dusted off his knees as he stood. No food either; the last of it had been left with Epona outside the castle gates. Epona- another reason he had to stay alive. His horse, which had saved his life more than once, starting when she had saved him as just a filly. Link had never met a more courageous horse, before or since. It was fitting, he supposed, that this most courageous horse was the mount of owner of the Triforce of Courage. Epona's rider picked up his lantern and refilled it to the brim- he had no empty bottles to spare and liked to be prepared. With a final look around, he- wait… What was this?

"It's probably just a floor mounted lantern, but you'd better light it." Midna muttered. "Who knows what it will do?"

Link nodded and poured some of the oil into the small dish at the top. He held his breath as he sparked a fire into the liquid- what would this do? He let the air go after a moment, and it came out in a pale cloud, echoing against the stone.

Silence.

No growling lizalfos, no screeching redeads, no clanking Darknuts. Link shifted his weight in relief, his items jangling together. The silence was deafening.

"Nothing happened." Midna's voice exploded in his head. It had never seemed so loud. She looked around, hopping to the corners of the rooms and even to the ceiling. Her gaze settled on the entrance. "Or did it?" She drifted out of the room. "Link it's not raining any more."

He followed her out and found that she was right. Though the sky was as dark as it had been before.

"Quick!" Midna said urgently, "Check what else had changed!"

But Link didn't move. He was so warm without the rain saturating his tunic and turning his chain mail to ice. The lantern that was now hooked to his belt had dried his clothes more or less. He was content.

"Link, come one!" Midna urged. "The rain might- well, there we go, it's raining again."

The hero darted back under cover and relit the torch. A smile even danced across the young man's face as the drumming of the rain ceased.

"Link! Stop fooling around!" Midna scowled. "You can't defeat Ganondorf by turning off the rain."

Link, however was having too much fun being a temporary weather god to listen to her.

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><p>Just then, as if the Goddesses were feeling whimsical hat day, a bird hit a window in the castle's tower. The noise brought Ganondorf's attention to the outside, and more importantly, the erratic weather pattern. The Gerudo King frowned and stepped out on the worn balcony attached to the room he had made into his office.<p>

"Bizarre…" He muttered, 'I wonder what's happening."

The Lord of Evil stepped away from the broken railing just as the rain began to fall once more. "What the Dickens?"

He rushed to the edge again and shouted, in his more commanding and evil of all voices, "Who ever is doing that to the rain, I insist you to stop! I am very busy up here and have much work to be done!"

The possessor of the Triforce of Power turned on his heel, ready to stamp away angrily, the Goddesses had other ideas.

Ganondorf slipped in a puddle of water and fell, six stories, to the ground via the broken banister. Though he didn't fall to his death, he toppled down on his back, landing at terminal velocity on the grounds of the castle.

Ore specifically, he landed in the hidden graveyard.

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><p>A sickening thud shocked Link from his amusement with the mythic torch. The hero armed himself and ran towards the noise. It had originated in the dark corner near Link's entrance.<p>

"Link, is that…?" Minda whispered in awe.

Ganondorf, the Lord of Evil, in the – now broken and torn- flesh. He lay on the ground, his spine snapped, three ribs protruding from his chest and a pool of blood had formed from a leak in his head.

Link crept closer and prodded the man with the tip of the Master Sword. Ganondorf's eyes flew and roared with rage as he tried to stand. But a broken spine will do more than make you blink and Ganon was paralyzed, helpless to the Hero of Time.

"You… Fool…" The hapless Lord of Evil panted. "Even with me as I am, you think… You can still… Win?"

Link's uneasy look at his enemy set off Ganondorf's small chuckles. The laugh built in hysteria and insanity until it reached maniacal proportions. It was a laugh that haunted Link's dreams.

Yet, in the face of such a nightmare come true, Link simple smiled. It was a true smile, and it was the first Midna had ever seen on the boy.

_Yes. Yes, I do. _

And the Hero of Time, Link, plunged the blazing Master Sword into the Guredo King, ending the evil reign of Ganondorf.

And thus, that single, magic torch and Link's easily amused mind saved Hyrule.

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><p><strong>What did you think? That torch made me laugh so much- out of all the things torches can do when they're lit, this was the most silly. Oh Nintendo. <strong>


End file.
